Exhibiting Diversity

After much discussion about the cultures represented within their classrooms, 3rd through 5th graders grew curious about their neighborhood.  What cultural groups were represented in the households and local businesses?  How did the community affect — and how was it affected by — these groups?  What makes a neighborhood? 

Armed with notebooks and pens, homemade cameras (made in science class), and tape recorders, the students walked around the neighborhood on several different days.  They enhanced their observations with research and interviews, reading about the history of migration to the area, sampling levels of pollution to determine how that affects the community, and talking with experts from prominent local businesses.  The students, especially the English Language Learners, greatly increased their language proficiency through daily journaling.

Excited by the wealth of information they had learned, the students wanted to share their knowledge with the greater community.  They produced large-scale drawings of their observations and mounted this artwork in their classroom, creating a neighborhood cultural museum.  People from all over the city responded to the posters the students made advertising the temporary museum and attended the grand opening celebration.

Through their many walks, the students discovered the richness of their neighborhood's past and present.  Through their design of a cultural museum, they became a part of that community legacy.

Adapted from "Route to Reform: K-8 service-learning Curriculum Ideas," © 1994-95 National Youth Leadership Council.